Top 10 NBA Shooting Guards of All Time

Monroe was one of the best scorers of all time. Over his career, he averaged 18.8 points, four assists, and three rebounds along with one steal, a very good 46.4 percent from the field, and 81 percent from the free throw line.

He was selected to four All Star teams and won the 1967-1968 Rookie of the Year Award. He also helped the New York Knicks win the championship in the 1972-1973 season. He was selected to the All NBA team once, with it being a first team selection, and he recorded six seasons of averaging at least 20 points per game.

9. Joe Dumars

Dumars is one of the best guards of all time on both ends of the floor. He was one of the best defensive guards of all time, as he was selected to the All NBA defense teams five times, with four of them being first team selections. Offensively, he averaged 16.1 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.2 rebounds along with a good 46 percent from the field, 38.2 percent, from the three-point line, and 84.3 percent from the free throw line.

He was also selected to six All Star games and he was one of the more clutch players of his era as he helped lead the Detroit "Bad Boys" Pistons to back-to-back championships in the late 80s. Finally, he also won the Finals MVP in the 1989 Finals series against the Lakers.

8. Sam Jones

Jones was the starting shooting guard for the legendary Celtics teams in the 1960s. He won 10 championships in his career, which is second all time only to Bill Russell. He averaged 17.7 points, five rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting a solid 45.6 percent from the field and a good 80 percent from the free throw line.

He was selected to the All Star game five times and he was selected to the All NBA team three times, with of all of them being second team selections.

In his 12-year career, he averaged over 20 points per game for four consecutive seasons from the 1964-1965 season through the 1967-1968 season.

7. Pete "Pistol" Maravich

Pistol Pete was one of the most exciting and entertaining NBA players of all time, but had a short career, playing just 10 seasons. However, he averaged a fantastic 24.2 points, 5.4 assists, and 4.2 rebounds along with 1.4 steals and a solid 44.1 percent from the field and 82 percent from the free throw line.

He was also one of the greatest NCAA players of all time, as he still holds the record for points per game, having averaged a tremendous 44.2 points per game in three seasons with LSU. In the NBA, he was selected to five All Star games and he was selected to four All NBA team selections, with two of them being first team selections.

6. Clyde "The Glide" Drexler

Drexler was one of the most all around guards of all time. He averaged 20.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.6 assists along with two steals and 0.7 blocks. He also shot a solid 47.2 percent from the field and 79 percent from the free throw line. Additionally, he was an above average defensive player.

He was selected to 10 All Star teams in his career and five All NBA teams, with one of them being a first team selection and two of them being second team selections.

He also helped lead the Houston Rockets to their second championship in the 1994-1995 season—the only championship of his career.

5. Allen Iverson "The Answer"

AI is one of the toughest players in all of sports. Even though he is only 6' and weighs 160 pounds, there have only been a few players more dominant in the history of the league. He is third all time in points per game with 27.7 points per game. He also averaged 6.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game.

He has been selected to nine All Star teams in his 12-year career so far and he has made the All NBA team seven times, with three of the selections being first team picks.

He is the shortest player ever to win an MVP Award, which he won in the 2000-2001 season.

4. George "Iceman" Gervin

Gervin is one of the greatest pure scorers of all time. He averaged 26.2 points per game in his career in the NBA along with five rebounds and three assists. He also averaged 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks while shooting a tremendous 51 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line.

He won four scoring titles in his career and twice averaged over 30 points per game. He was also selected to the All Star team nine times and the All NBA team seven times, with five of the selections being on the first team.

3. Jerry West "Mr. Clutch"

West is by all accounts the greatest basketball person of all time. He was one of the greatest players of all time, a solid coach, and arguably the greatest General Manager in all of sports.

In his legendary 14-year career, he averaged an amazing 27 points, 6.7 assists, and six rebounds along with a great 47.4 percent and 81.4 percent from the free throw line. He also averaged 2.6 steals and 0.7 blocks and his defensive stats were only recorded in his last season.

He was selected to an amazing 13 All Star teams and to the All NBA 12 times, with all of them except for one being as a first team selection. He was also one of the best defensive guards ever as he was selected to the All NBA defense five times, with four of them being first team selections. (All NBA defensive teams started in the last five seasons of his career.)

However, he only won one championship even though he made the NBA Finals over 10 times, with nine of the losses to the legendary Boston Celtics team and one to the 1970 Knicks team.

He is also the only player of all time to win a Finals MVP award on a losing team. He accomplished this in the 1969 Finals against the Celtics, when he averaged over 40 points in the seven-game series.

He is a true basketball legend.

2. Kobe Bryant

For Kobe to already be ahead of Mr. West at such a young age (30) tells you how great he really is. So far in his 12-year career, Kobe has career averages of 25 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.6 blocks. He also shoots a solid 45.3 percent from the field, 34 percent from the three-point line, and 84 percent from the free throw line.

He has made the All Star team 10 times, with one of the seasons being cut off because of the lockout. He has also made the All NBA team nine times, with six of them being first team selections. He is one of the greatest defensive guards of all time as he has made the All NBA defensive team seven times, with five of the selections being first team selections.

He has also won an MVP Award, two All Star game MVPs, and two scoring titles. Despite his young age, he is already 24th all time in total points.

Finally, he helped lead the Lakers to three straight championships in the early 2000s and made himself one of the best playoff performers of all time.

Kobe still has several great years in him and could move to No. 1 on this list someday.

1. Michael Jordan

Jordan is one of the three greatest players of all time (behind both Magic and Kareem). In his 15-year career, he averaged 30.1 points per game, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists along with 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks. He also shot a tremendous 49.7 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line.

He was selected to the All Star team 13 times, winning three All Star game MVPs. He was also one of the greatest defensive players of the all time as he won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1987-1988. He was selected to the All NBA defensive team nine times, with all of them being first team selections, and to the All NBA team 10 times, with nine of them being first team selections.

He led the Bulls to two different sets of threepeats in the 1990s and he won six Finals MVP Awards. He is also second all time in MVP Awards with five, behind only Kareem, who has six.

In the next couple of days look for the list of the 10 Greatest Small Forwards in the history of the NBA.